I-72 Corridor Target Business Identification Summary

Targeted industry analysis can be approached in many ways. Smart Solutions Group looks at several factors when reviewing what businesses have the best potential to succeed in a community or region. We put the most weight in the skills of the workforce, location quotient, Competitive Effect and clusters of business.

The six county region population is 89,158 and the region has 35,947 jobs. 83% of the workforce has a high school degree or higher.

In most of Illinois, government is the largest employer in a county. This is unique to the Midwest. But because of current budget issues government has not seen much job growth over the last ten years in Illinois. However, this six county region has seen a growth of 887 jobs. The largest private sector growth is Meat Processed from Carcasses with an increase of 859 jobs. The focus of the TIA report is the private sector.

When developing targets, we could come up with a list of several dozens. But with limited resources we focus on twenty or less.

In the below tables we have included the data points we review. In most of these industries the regions already have had some success. You will see in some you have absolutely no presence of that industry such as General Warehousing. However, we directed to look at transportation and with the interstate and proximity to major metro cities it makes sense to see if there could be some growth in this industry.

A couple of columns in the tables may have terms ono everyone is familiar with. LQ, which stands for Location Quotient is a measure of industry concentration and therefore, it is a measure of the industry’s strength in the region. LQ is calculated by dividing the percentage of an industry’s employment in the region by that industry’s employment nationwide as a percentage of the national employment. An LQ equal to 1.00 indicates that the industry in the region has the same concentration as the national percentage for the industry. An industry with an LQ greater than 1.00 indicates the region has an above average industry concentration and an LQ of less than 1.00 indicates that the industry has a concentration below the nation.

The other column is the Competitive Effect. In shift share analysis the Competitive Effect reflects the regional growth that cannot be explained by either overall national growth or industry/occupation-specific trends. This is the growth (or decline) that is unique to your region. That number means you had more (or less) number of jobs than what the area should have had based on national trends. If you look at the table, you will see Meat Processed from Carcasses had a Competitive Effect of 859 jobs. In this case that number correlates with your total jobs because there must have been a facility locate in the region over the last ten years. Since that industry did not exist ten years ago the Competitive Effect is the same number because the region shouldn’t have seen any growth in this industry since it didn’t exist ten years ago. The Competitive Effect number is based on 2005-2015. The tables are listed in order by Location Quotient.

Manufacturing and Food Processing Targets

Transportation & Logistics Targets

Back Office Targets

Next Steps:

This study was meant to help you focus your marketing efforts by identifying industries to attract or retain. The next step is to decide how best to reach the businesses in these industries through trade shows, marketing and visits.